


Soblom

by darkmoore



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-21
Updated: 2015-07-21
Packaged: 2018-04-10 12:00:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4391084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkmoore/pseuds/darkmoore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for <b>Brumeier's</b> prompt to me: Rodney befriends a furry critter offworld and wants to bring it back to Atlantis with him because he misses his cat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Soblom

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you, Bru, for the prompt and the beta and all the encouragement you're giving me. You're amazing!

Rodney woke with a start, disoriented and confused for a second. Something had woken him; he just couldn’t tell what exactly it was. He sat up, pushing the sleeping bag down to his waist. The sun was just starting to rise at the horizon, giving enough light that Rodney could see his surroundings clearly. John and Teyla were still asleep nearby, while Ronon sat a distance away, keeping watch. 

“Something wrong, McKay?” he asked in a low voice, clearly unwilling to disturb the others if this was just a case of a bad dream. They all had them, even though no one really talked about it. 

“I, ah, I don’t know,” Rodney admitted. “Something woke me but I’m not quite sure what.” 

A grin spread over Ronon’s face as he said, “Must have been the Soblom then. She’s taken quite the liking to you.” 

Rodney stared at Ronon in confusion. “The what?” he asked.

“The Soblom. She’s hiding behind your pack right now. Took off when you sat up. I think you startled her. She’s been sleeping pressed up against you all night.”

“Are you telling me that there’s been some kind of creature sleeping next to me and you didn’t do anything about it? Why didn’t you kill it or at least … make it go away?” Rodney felt panic bubbling up inside of him, imagining some sort of dangerous, possibly poisonous or otherwise lethal animal cozying up to him. But no, Ronon wouldn’t have done anything that would put Rodney in danger. 

Ronon looked amused. “She’s harmless. They’re children’s pets. Smart, friendly, calming even. Sure seemed like you slept easier. They make this rumbling sound when they’re content. People like it.” 

Rodney frowned at him. “Is it still there? Behind my pack?” he asked. He couldn’t see it from this angle, but Ronon most likely could. 

“She’s still there. She’s smelling your pack and rubbing her head against it. Told you she likes you.” There was barely suppressed laughter in Ronon’s voice. It made Rodney angry for some reason. 

“Oh, great! The thing is spreading alien germs all over my stuff. How lovely. I’ll need to get it decontaminated when we get back home,” Rodney grumbled. 

He unzipped his sleeping bag and moved forward cautiously, slowly creeping nearer to where his pack sat a few feet away. He must have made a sound because before he could even reach his goal the head of the Soblom appeared around the side of his pack. 

The creature looked – for all intents and purposes – like a small cat that had been dyed green. Ears perked, the animal tilted its head sideways as if to say ‘what now?’ 

“Oh, wow. I didn’t expect that,” Rodney said, and for a moment the longing for the cat he’d left on Earth was overwhelming. It would be really nice to have a cat again, to have someone to come home to after a long day in the lab. Of course it totally wouldn’t be fair to uproot the poor thing and steal it away from its natural habitat to live in a city made of steel and glass. But the longing was there, burning like a fire in his chest.

Rodney knew he could take her to Atlantis as long as he followed all quarantine protocols; it wouldn’t have been the first animal they brought to Atlantis in the last ten years. In fact, botany had transformed a whole sublevel into something like a gigantic habitat, complete with forests, ponds, and all kinds of animals from several different planets. The creatures had learned to cohabitate and adapt, and they were an endless source of information for a lot of the scientific departments, not just the zoologists. They’d just never come across … cats. 

Ronon grinned again. “I’m surprised this hasn’t happened before today. After seeing the picture of your … cat? … I always figured you’d get claimed by a Soblom, but they’re shy and usually only show themselves when they’re ready to bond with someone.” 

“Bond?” Rodney asked surprised. Earth cats didn’t “bond” with their owners. They were independent and stubborn and not at all like what Ronon had just described the Soblom to be. 

“Yeah, they tune in to your mood and try to comfort you. Told you they’re really smart. You should take her with you to Atlantis. I bet she’d love that. Maybe you get to take her whole litter, spread the love around a bit.” Ronon sounded like it was a done deal already. 

In that moment the Soblom came out from behind the pack and took a few curious steps towards Rodney. She sat down in front of him, head tilted again and said, ‘meow?’

Rodney just stared. This was just too weird. Surely the cat … Soblom didn’t actually understand them, right? She didn’t get what he and Ronon were talking about. Rodney settled back on his haunches and just considered the idea. 

Ronon laughed. “You look like you’ve seen a Wraith, McKay.”

Rodney decided to ignore his teammate in favor of slowly reaching out for the Soblom. The animal raised a paw as if to greet him and then leapt, landing securely in Rodney’s arms. Rodney lowered the Soblom to his lap, where she settled her head on her paws and started to purr, loudly. 

Of course John chose that exact moment to wake up. He threw one look at Rodney and raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Do you have a green cat in your lap?” he asked, voice still rough from sleep. 

“It’s called a Soblom,” Rodney replied, still slightly startled by the turn of events. The Soblom just purred on. 

“Well it sure seems to like you, buddy,” John grinned and got up. “You should keep it. I know how much you miss your cat.”

“Oh for Christ’s sake would you stop telling me to keep it? It’s not a toy. And I can’t just take it … her away from here and expect her to live in Atlantis when all she knows is living in the wild. She’ll most likely trash my place and pee on my stuff before she dies from heartbreak or something. I’m not doing that to her!”

“It is a great honor to be claimed by a Soblom, Rodney,” Teyla’s soft voice suddenly said. “You should feel proud to have been found worthy of such a fine gift of friendship. And it seems to me that you have already accepted her bonding offer.” There was a smile on Teyla’s face as she inclined her head towards him. 

Rodney felt confused. “What do you mean? I did no such thing,” Even to his own ears he sounded scandalized. 

At this, Ronon laughed heartily and Teyla’s face took on a look of fond amusement. 

“You cradle her and pet her and she is voicing her contentment, is she not? She will be happy wherever you are as long as you keep her company,” Teyla said softly. Rodney suddenly realized that he had started to run his fingers through the Soblom’s soft fur absentmindedly. Was that all it took to accept the Soblom as his?

“Looks like you found yourself a new roommate, Buddy. Congrats.” John grinned and walked over to where Rodney was sitting to get a better look at the Soblom. 

“Oh fine, whatever. I’m keeping her. Are you happy now?” Rodney was surprised how good it felt to say it out loud. 

“I advise you to take her family, too. That way you will not only satisfy the curiosity of your colleagues, you will also give other people on Atlantis the chance to share in the experience of befriending a Soblom. If nothing else, your Soblom will be more content with her family near.” Teyla sounded very calm and reasonable.

“I think that’s a great idea, Rodney,” John agreed as he started to pack up the camp. 

Rodney realized he was outnumbered and just went with it, trusting everything would turn out all right.

* * *

It turned out that ‘Bastet’, as Rodney decided to call the Soblom, was a matriarch with a rather big family that consisted of several children, grandchildren, siblings with their offspring and multiple mates. All in all the zoological team took fifty-six Soblom back to Atlantis. Many of them ended up living in the habitat but about a dozen of the young ones bonded to Atlantis staff and moved into the living quarters. 

All the Soblom were very happy in their new home and lived a long and fulfilled life with their bonded.


End file.
